[BarryLyndon]

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In terms of Bankroll management, what can I do to get a sick heater?

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You have such good understandings of the game and I'm sure your next big score is just around the corner. Honestly, I'm surprised you only have that one time big score under your belt? Or is it that you just don't practice what you preach?

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I think I can answer that, publicly, since it may provide some insight (doubt it)?:

Well, Rocco, back last year, I basically only played cash games, for the wrong reasons, without thinking at all about the game. I had one "big score" when I luckboxed in a tourney. You could play this game for 20 years based on emotion and "competitive spirit" as opposed to logic/match and not make a buck. You could find yourself 3-betting in all the wrong spots for a year if you are so inclined.

I only started playing tournaments and actually posting/reading in SSMTT about February of this year. A couple of months I made a lot of really brash plays - I think experimentation is important to an extent. I probably lost like 10 to 15 buy ins just making "moves" on my gut rather than on hand ranges. You know what? That's fine because it weathers you a little. You become a little hardened, which is very important in late game.

I play Part-time and have like 200 tournaments and 300 SNGs (mostly 6 max) under my belt since then. Maybe the biggest problem is that I don't play enough. I also think I learn slow, but I say this with as little ego as possible, I learn well.

By the way, guys, my BIGGEST problem was bankroll management and wanting to move up where play is "respectable." Seriously - stay down and learn and be comfortable with your roll. I promised myself that if I could build from $50 in March and make a nice score, I would do nothing but play $10 SNGs and small tournaments until I built my roll. In finished 5th in a FTP $75, which took me to about 1K. Now, many players will say "well, if I can win that, I should just start playing $50s and compete against thinking players" Well, you're [censored] wrong. You lose four $50s due to variance and/or bad play, and you just lost 20% of your stack, and it stings like a bitch. Wouldn't you rather break even in 4 $10s and learn that your push with KJo from UTG is NOT going to work? Yes, please, after two years of BR management hell, I would, anytime. In the past, I'd play NL400 with $800 and cripple myself. Or $20 SNGs at 200. Without reading or writing considered posts. This time, I took the alternative route. But I still gripe like a beast [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] - to each his own.

By the way, why do I speak of 6-max SNGs so much? Here's what I think. It's because you will be FORCED to make more than 1 decision for your life during a 45 minute period. You will learn that at a 1500 stack, you HAVE to have a structured plan. You will be in a perennial blind war after the first half an hour. You will constantly be under some kind of heat, which can only make you saltier and wiser. If anything, you will stop posting stuff like "What do I do with AK here?" or "I have 88 on the bubble, what do I do?" Preflop plays start to become automatic, and you will see that those automatic plays are just the tip of the iceberg. Maybe most importantly, you will eventually gather that being short stacked with ~900 at 40/80 does not necessarily mean the tournament is over for you. Even when deeper, good plays have to be made (you could lose a ton in SNGs if you don't make good short stacked decisions and just start WTF pushing or making awkward raises and folding). Because I have a suspicion that this mentality. a achilles heel for a lot of otherwise good players. I know I've been in that boat for months - talk about not practicing what you preach).

18-max SNGs can also be quite nice. I don't play them as much, but the bottom line is this: at the 9 max final tables, the blinds are going to be tough and you are going to have to make precise push bot decisions from all sorts of positions. Also, 1st prize is usually quite nice (on FTP, 20/18 pays $144 for first and the competition is usually very soft, about 1 15 min of your time).

I feel like I've become better over the past month or so by playing a lot of HU100 (FTP - they should have HU50, wish they did) at 50BB. OK, so what does this do? Well, one, it can make you money because you play against flop donks. Two, you are forced to blind battle every step of the way. Three, you are forced to a decision on every street. You learn not to be too loose in the BB (Hamnegger - sorry for calling you out [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]), how to small ball, how to commit your opponents, how to make quick adjusments, and so forth. You also get closer to the mind of the donk rather than having to watch as a 3rd party while he dukes it out with minbets against his buddy.

I'd say that I started "practicing what I preached" in like June of this year. That's why I have become a better poster. But it all starts with bankroll and finding good learning forums - 6 max SNGs are the great if you want to be forced to make a lot of decisions. HU is great for learning blind battles, especially if you can find a 50BB donk. And, of course, playing tournaments within your BR limits is key because that's how I feel I've developed a better attitude, which I think, when push comes to shove, is the #1 most dangerous weapon for any player to have.

Of course, you have to play tournaments more than SNGs, which may be my pitfall. But the bottom line is that in terms of a pyschological perspective (BR wise), I've finally stopped concentrating, I think, on making "big moves" and "competing" and so on and just decided to try to make good decisions. If I fall into that category of "better poster than player," well that sucks. But my plays are merging very close to my posts [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]. And that can't be bad.


Barry